Judas Priest

- As part of the 30th anniversary tour of the album "British Steel," Judas Priest performs at the Chevrolet Theater on Sunday, with opening act Whitesnake. The band will be playing the album "British Steel" in its entirety, along with some other hits. Whitesnake may best be known for the hit song "Here I Go Again." The concert starts at 7 p.m. at the Chevrolet Theatre at 95 South Turnpike Road, Wallingford. Tickets range from $45 to $65. Information: 877-598-8689 or www.livenation.

'Brutal Legend" may be the best concept ever for a video game. It's a game of action/adventure quests, built around the pageantry of old-school heavy metal, which is all about mystical quests anyway. Talk about synergy. Created by Double Fine and released last week by EA, the game follows metal super-roadie Eddie Riggs as he's transported from our world - where metal has become the cheesy province of angsty 20-somethings still obsessed with unrequited middle-school crushes - to a fantastical realm where metal is real.

Anthrax was supposed to headline Ozzfest this summer when the original lineup reunited for the first time in 13 years. That plan fell through, but the pioneering thrash-metal band (from left, Dan Spitz, Frank Bello, Charlie Benante, Scott Ian and Joey Belladonna) is on the road this fall, tenderizing audiences for Judas Priest. Priest, which reunited with original lead singer Rob Halford last summer and has been on tour almost continuously since, returns to Connecticut Wednesday for the third time since July 2004 when it headlines Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport.

In the chorus of its classic "Living After Midnight," Judas Priest highlights three things it plans on doing all night: living, rocking and loving. Watching the legendary British metal quintet perform Sunday at the Chevrolet Theatre in Wallingford, that list of priorities seemed about right, though it's hard to imagine much of anything coming before rocking. The group's latest tour marks the 30th anniversary of its influential "British Steel" album, and the show's first 45 minutes found singer Rob Halford and his crew barreling through the collection's nine tracks.

And so it begins: Mohegan Sun has added a second Elton John show, for Nov. 15; tickets are $168.50 and $101.50. Will he play for 10 nights like Billy Joel? That remains to be seen, but probably not: He's on tour, after all. The Eagles are there July 31; tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. for $265, $225 and $165. Tickets are also on sale for the Aug. 15 performance by Judas Priest and Heaven and Hell; the cost is $85 and $65. Native son John Mayer has added a Connecticut show to his summer tour.

'Brutal Legend" may be the best concept ever for a video game. It's a game of action/adventure quests, built around the pageantry of old-school heavy metal, which is all about mystical quests anyway. Talk about synergy. Created by Double Fine and released last week by EA, the game follows metal super-roadie Eddie Riggs as he's transported from our world - where metal has become the cheesy province of angsty 20-somethings still obsessed with unrequited middle-school crushes - to a fantastical realm where metal is real.

Connecticut's best-known musical export in recent years has been hardcore, and New Haven's Hatebreed has become sort of an ambassador for the state's scene. Formed in 1993, the band has released four albums full of punishing thrash-punk riffs and howling vocals and was selected to open for Judas Priest and Anthrax in Bridgeport earlier this year. The band -- from left, Chris Beattie, Sean Martin, Jamey Jasta and Matt Byrne -- considers itself a "movement" for "the downtrodden, the dispossessed -- holding the torch aloft for everyone who has ever been cast aside," according to its website.

Death, speed, thrash, power and classic metal rolled into Hartford Thursday night as the Metal Gods Tour 2003 played the Webster Theatre. The show opened with the undercard bands: Pain Museum, Carnal Forge, Amon Amarth, the German power-metal kings Primal Fear, and the bizarre act of Immortal. First up was Pain Museum, a new side project for headliner Rob Halford's drummer Bobby Jarzombek and guitarist Mike Chlasciak. Although the band's talent is stellar, the vocalist left a lackluster impression.

A SMALL DEADLY SPACE Fight Epic Records Now that Fight has released its second album, Rob Halford's new lease on life as a metal frontman is in full swing. But his band's sophomore effort, "A Small Deadly Space" doesn't quite measure up to Fight's explosive debut, 1992's "War of Words." Here, the guitar-playing lacks the catchy hooks that enlivened the first one. Perhaps Fight should have kept original guitarist Russ Parrish. Still, the presence of metal's elder statesman ensures success on any project.

"The world is my material," says Rob Halford, former lead singer of Judas Priest whose latest band is Fight. And lately, the world has not let him down. So on the second Fight album, "A Small Deadly Space," "We're touching on many areas, from domestic violence to the prejudice that exists in the search for an AIDS cure, pondering on points we've got to consider no matter where we are in this life," says Halford from his home in Phoenix before embarking on a tour that brings the band to Toad's Place in New Haven tonight.

- As part of the 30th anniversary tour of the album "British Steel," Judas Priest performs at the Chevrolet Theater on Sunday, with opening act Whitesnake. The band will be playing the album "British Steel" in its entirety, along with some other hits. Whitesnake may best be known for the hit song "Here I Go Again." The concert starts at 7 p.m. at the Chevrolet Theatre at 95 South Turnpike Road, Wallingford. Tickets range from $45 to $65. Information: 877-598-8689 or www.livenation.

> > They are two Scott Boras luxury cars passing in the night, one coming and one going. The Yankees get Alex Rodriguez back when they face the Orioles tonight in Baltimore, just as Manny Ramirez settles into his 50-game suspension for violating baseball's drug policy. Oh, such irony in Boras Land. The circus that is A-Rod's life will be slightly muted because of Manny's malfeasance. All of the A-Rod drama - the pitch tipping, the high school steroid use, the excessive oral hygiene - is overshadowed because Manny is now the star of the never-ending steroid scandal.

And so it begins: Mohegan Sun has added a second Elton John show, for Nov. 15; tickets are $168.50 and $101.50. Will he play for 10 nights like Billy Joel? That remains to be seen, but probably not: He's on tour, after all. The Eagles are there July 31; tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. for $265, $225 and $165. Tickets are also on sale for the Aug. 15 performance by Judas Priest and Heaven and Hell; the cost is $85 and $65. Native son John Mayer has added a Connecticut show to his summer tour.

How much did things break down in the press critics' tour session for "Teachers," an NBC midseason comedy that will take over the slot of "The Office" after it ends in March? Loudmouth radio host Phil Hendrie hijacked just about every answer when the rest of the cast members weren't talking over one another. And the producer said he was heavily influenced by a British show of the same name and sensibility that happened to have the same title: "Teachers." But the worst part was when "Scrubs" creator Bill Lawrence secured a microphone to address the producers: "When you compared your show to `Scrubs' before, is that because there's going to be a lot of sick people in it or ..."

Connecticut's best-known musical export in recent years has been hardcore, and New Haven's Hatebreed has become sort of an ambassador for the state's scene. Formed in 1993, the band has released four albums full of punishing thrash-punk riffs and howling vocals and was selected to open for Judas Priest and Anthrax in Bridgeport earlier this year. The band -- from left, Chris Beattie, Sean Martin, Jamey Jasta and Matt Byrne -- considers itself a "movement" for "the downtrodden, the dispossessed -- holding the torch aloft for everyone who has ever been cast aside," according to its website.

> > They are two Scott Boras luxury cars passing in the night, one coming and one going. The Yankees get Alex Rodriguez back when they face the Orioles tonight in Baltimore, just as Manny Ramirez settles into his 50-game suspension for violating baseball's drug policy. Oh, such irony in Boras Land. The circus that is A-Rod's life will be slightly muted because of Manny's malfeasance. All of the A-Rod drama - the pitch tipping, the high school steroid use, the excessive oral hygiene - is overshadowed because Manny is now the star of the never-ending steroid scandal.

Anthrax was supposed to headline Ozzfest this summer when the original lineup reunited for the first time in 13 years. That plan fell through, but the pioneering thrash-metal band (from left, Dan Spitz, Frank Bello, Charlie Benante, Scott Ian and Joey Belladonna) is on the road this fall, tenderizing audiences for Judas Priest. Priest, which reunited with original lead singer Rob Halford last summer and has been on tour almost continuously since, returns to Connecticut Wednesday for the third time since July 2004 when it headlines Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport.

It's a self-confident man who can refer to himself, with no hint of irony, as a "metal god." Rob Halford uses that exact phrase on a recent phone call from Barcelona, Spain. He's talking about the near-legendary metal band Judas Priest, which Halford has rejoined after a 12-year absence, just in time for a world tour that includes headlining this year's Ozzfest. The traveling metal festival opens Saturday in Hartford. "This is a reunification experience," he says. "We want to let people see Halford the metal god back in the band."